Wrong Policies of Pakistan Towards Pashtuns Caused the Uprising of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement
By
Mahboob Hussain
19 Jun 2020
Pakistan is
home to approximately 30 million Pashtuns. Pashtuns account for 15 percent of
the overall population of Pakistan, which exceeds the 200 million mark and
constitutes a minority. Despite being a minority, Pakistani Pashtuns have
always played a constructive role in the economic, cultural, political and even
military fields of the country. They never hesitated from flaunting their
patriotic feelings towards Pakistan. However, this patriotism was never
received well, or at least it never saw a similar type of untainted payback
from the other side. Wrong policies by the Pakistani state towards its Pashtun
population is what caused the uprising of the dynamic Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement
(PTM).
Opposite to
the prevalent opinion, I am of a belief that Pashtuns in Pakistan are not a
victim of systematic discrimination by the Pakistani state institutions. That
is to say that Pashtuns in Pakistan, as well as, on the Afghan side of the
Durand Line, fell prey to the larger geopolitical game, and that they were/are
not suppressed racially due to the reality of being Pashtuns by their
ethnicity. This fact can be found as reasonable, if not entirely comforting, by
having a look at the history of the Pakistani army, the most organized and
influential institution in the country. Of the chiefs of the Pakistani military
(practically one of the highest positions within the Pakistani state), four
have been Pashtuns, namely, Generals Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan (also severed as the
President), Gul Hasan Khan and Waheed Kakar. Moreover, the current Prime
Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, is also an ethnic Pashtun.
The Pashtun
tribal areas of Pakistan and the southern Pashtun populated regions of
Afghanistan, which have suffered the most from the wave of extremism, served as
the front line to this ‘big game.’ Assessing Pashtuns as warrior-like and more
susceptible to religious fundamentalism, the Pakistani state and its secret
services apparatus, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), ill-used the tribal
Pashtuns for attaining its so-called “strategic-dept” in the region in a
completely unjustifiable manner. Initially, the Pakistani army, under the name
of Jihad, used the Pathan (Pashtun) tribesmen in its fight over Kashmir with
India, its main rival. Later, it created and actively supported the Pashtun
dominated Taliban group in order to influence the course of Afghan politics and
subsequently balance its greater power dynamics with India in the region. In
between these games of power and politics, it was the Pashtuns that suffered
the most lethal blow.
The
policies pursued by the Pakistani security institutions have gravely damaged
the Pashtuns living in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Nevertheless, the plan to
influence the events of Kabul through a religiously extremist Taliban Movement
also fired back adversely against the Pakistani state. The Pakistani faction of
the Taliban, Tehrik-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), started aiming public and private
targets on Pakistani soil. Although Pakistan has, after suffering heavy losses,
been successful in containing the extremist group (TTP) by conducting over
several military operations in the tribal regions, the real wound has been left
unhealed, and it continues to compromise the futures of the young Pashtuns
living in those areas. Many ethnic Pashtuns lost their lives due to this
terrorization, they suffered cultural and economic damages beyond repair, and
large numbers were left as brainwashed by this wave of religious extremism
initiated by the Pakistani state.
The Pashtun
Tahafuz Movement (PTM), after what the Pakistani Pashtuns have gone through, is
a voice amidst devastation that is asking for a rightful justice and
accountability. The movement is unique and unprecedented. However, the PTM
leadership, in order to achieve success, must remain thoughtful of the common
Pakistani opinion to their cause. PTM’s success is highly dependent upon the
support that it obtains from the other social and political factions from
within the Pakistani soil towards the wrongs done by the high-level security
institutions. In that sense, PTM must rethink on the virtues of its unnecessary
flirting with the Afghan state, and establish itself as an entirely indigenous
movement, as opposed to one that is falsely alleged to have been funded by NDS
and RAW.
PTM through
its non-violent approach is not only a sign of hope for the much-aggrieved
Pakistani Pashtuns, but it also assists the democratic cause of Pakistan. PTM
challenges the wrong policies undertaken by the all omnipotent Pakistani
military and its secret services apparatus, the ISI, as has been done never
before. Through its impenetrable determination, PTM can be a start for the end
of an unaccountable dictatorial rule of the army in an otherwise democratic
Pakistan. This would not only prove to be beneficial for Pakistan as a
democratic entity as it would empower its fragile civil institutions but can
also help ease tensions in the region with Afghanistan and India.
PTM is a
sign of hope and determination for every group undergoing oppression and
injustices. It, in this sense, is BRAVE, RIGHT, and REQUIRED.
Original
Headline: Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement: A Resistance on the Face of
Authoritarianism
Source: The Khaama Press
URL: https://newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/wrong-policies-pakistan-towards-pashtuns/d/122166